New Zealand Police response to the Independent Children’s Monitor’s report
NZ Police is at times the subject of reports prepared by Aroturuki Tamariki | Independent Children’s Monitor under the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Act 2022 and required to prepare a response to those reports pursuant to section 30 of that Act.
The responses to reports NZ Police has been the subject of are published below:
Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children
Following the murder of Malachi Subecz in 2021, six agencies (including Police) commissioned Dame Karen Poutasi to review the Children’s System as a whole, to identify ways to improve the system to better protect any child in Malachi’s circumstances in the future.
Dame Karen’s report was published in November 2022 with 14 recommendations and Police welcomes the report and accepts its findings.
In July 2024, the Independent Children’s Monitor published the following report Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children and looks at whether the recommendations made by the Poutasi review have been actioned.
We are committed to collaborating with other children’s sector agencies to address Dame Karen’s recommendations, as identified by the cross-agency response to Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children.
The New Zealand Police responses to the Independent Children’s Monitor’s 2024 report, “Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children” addresses the recommendations for Police which outlines what we intend to do with the Independent Children’s Monitor findings, timeframes and how we intend to monitor the impact of these changes.
The ICM published a follow-up report in February 2026 on progress against these recommendations: Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children – Second Review. This is New Zealand Police’s response to that report.
Outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whanau
Aroturuki Tamariki | Independent Children’s Monitor is required to report annually on the outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori.
The last report was published in June 2025: Outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau | Aroturuki Tamariki | Independent Children’s Monitor.
In recognising the importance of this work, Police worked collaboratively with the Monitor through engagement and providing data to assist in the preparation of the report, welcoming the impetus it provides.
The Police response is published on Aroturuki Tamariki’s website and available above.